A Farmhouse That Borrowed a Samurai Gate
The Sakano Family Residence (坂野家住宅, Sakano-ke Jutaku, also written Sakanoke Jūtaku) stands in Oinogo-cho, Joso City, Ibaraki Prefecture, and its main house and front gate, built across the middle and later Edo period, were designated Important Cultural Properties of Japan on 25 April 1968.
Visitors reach the property along a sloping lane between bamboo and plum trees, and the first structure they meet is the gate rather than the house. It is a yakuimon: two main pillars, two rear support pillars, a gabled roof of thatch. The type belonged to warrior households. Finding one at the entrance to a farming family's compound tells you something about the Sakano before you have read a single caption.
The family settled here during the Sengoku period and by the Edo period held the position of soname-nushi, a head village official responsible for a cluster of villages rather than one. Local people still call the place Daijin Yashiki, roughly "the great man's estate." The grounds run to about one hectare, and the earthen wall that continues from the gate marks out the whole of it.
Two Buildings, Two Centuries
The designation covers two structures listed separately in the national register, plus two stretches of wall recorded as attached property. The main house came first. Its living quarters section measures 18.5 metres along the ridge and 14.3 metres across, with an eastern projecting wing of 7.8 by 8.4 metres, roofed in the hipped irimoya style with a veranda running along one side. The Agency for Cultural Affairs dates this portion to the mid Edo period, between roughly 1661 and 1750.
The reception section was added later: 10.7 metres by 7.0 metres, hipped at its southern end, joined to the main house at its northern end, with an entrance porch under a gabled-hip roof. The whole roof, both sections, is thatch. That is a large area of thatch to maintain, and the volume of it is the single most striking thing about the building from the outside.
The front gate is dated to the late Edo period, between about 1751 and 1829, and is built as a yakuimon with a gabled thatched roof. Both entries in the national register share designation number 01672 and the same designation date.
The official commentary from the Agency for Cultural Affairs praises the thick pillars and beams of the frame and calls the residence one of very few surviving examples of a large-scale farmhouse of this class. It also notes that gate and wall together preserve the shape of a wealthy farming family's compound, which is the part that matters when you are standing there. Individual grand farmhouses survive across Japan. Complete enclosures, with the boundary and the approach intact, do not.
One point deserves care. The register lists the reception section as late Edo (1751 to 1829), while the same database's descriptive text places the extension around the middle of the nineteenth century. Municipal sources generally follow the descriptive version and speak of a major enlargement in the later Edo period. The discrepancy sits in the primary source itself and has not been resolved here.
What the Museum Shows You
The residence was donated to the municipality in 1998 and reopened after a three-year conservation programme as the Mitsukaido Museum of Local History (Mitsukaido Fudo Hakubutsukan). The restoration used a copperplate print of 1890 as its reference for the appearance of the grounds, so the garden and outbuildings you walk through are a reconstruction of a documented late Meiji state rather than a general impression of "old Japan."
Inside the doma, the packed-earth entrance floor, a screen plays an introduction to the building. Past it the plan opens into the four-room arrangement known as yomadori, the standard grid of a broad-hall farmhouse, expanded here to a scale most farmhouses never reached. Staff give guided explanations, and several visitor accounts make the same point: without the commentary the visit becomes a pleasant walk rather than an understanding of what you are looking at. Ask.
Beyond the main house stand storehouses, sheds and the Geppa-ro, a shoin study built in 1920 by a literary-minded head of the family. Calligraphers and painters gathered there, and works they left behind remain in the building, along with original window glass. In September 2023 Joso City announced that the shoin and the document storehouse were being added to the existing Important Cultural Property designation. The national database entries for the main house and gate had not yet been updated to reflect this at the time of writing.
The site is a long-standing filming location. Period dramas, the television series JIN, and television commercials have all used the bamboo grove, the sloping approach and the black board fence. Photography by visitors is permitted; commercial filming is arranged separately through the city's film commission and charged by the hour.
Seasons change the visit considerably. Plum in late winter, fresh bamboo in early summer, maples in November. A rose garden run by descendants of the family operates next door and peaks in June.
- 📍 Plan Your Visit to Ibaraki
- Find tours, activities & transport passes near Sakano Family Residence (Oiogo-cho, Mitsukaido City, Ibaraki Prefecture)
- [ Hitachi Seaside Park Nemophila Flower Tours ]
Q&A
- Can the Sakano Family Residence be visited, and what are the opening hours and admission fee?
- Yes. It operates as the Mitsukaido Museum of Local History. From April to October the grounds open 9:00 to 18:00 with last admission at 17:00; from November to March, 9:00 to 17:00 with last admission at 16:00. Admission is 300 yen for adults and 100 yen for primary, junior high and high school students, and free for visitors aged 65 and over. Groups of 15 or more pay a reduced rate.
- When is the Sakano Family Residence closed?
- Mondays, or the following weekday when a Monday falls on a public holiday, and the New Year period from 29 December to 3 January.
- How do you get to the Sakano Family Residence from the nearest station?
- Mitsukaido Station and Mitsuma Station on the Kanto Railway Joso Line are the closest, each roughly 10 to 15 minutes away by car. There is no direct bus, so a taxi from the station is the practical option: around 2,800 yen one way from Mitsukaido, around 1,300 yen from Mitsuma. By car it is about 20 minutes from the Yawara interchange on the Joban Expressway and about 15 minutes from the Joso interchange on the Ken-O Expressway. Free parking is available.
- Is photography allowed at the Sakano Family Residence?
- Personal photography is permitted. Commercial shoots for film, television or advertising require prior arrangement with Joso City and are charged separately, at 10,000 yen per hour for the site.
- Which parts of the Sakano Family Residence carry the national designation?
- The main house and the front gate were designated in 1968, with two sections of wall recorded as attached property. Joso City announced in September 2023 that the Geppa-ro shoin and the document storehouse were being added to the designation.
Basic Information
| Name | Sakano Family Residence (Sakano-ke Jutaku), Oinogo-cho, Ibaraki Prefecture |
|---|---|
| Location | 2037 Oinogo-cho, Joso City, Ibaraki Prefecture |
| Designation | Important Cultural Property (designation no. 01672); main house and front gate, with walls as attached property |
| Year Designated | 25 April 1968 |
| Quantity | Main house 1 building; front gate 1 building; walls 2 structures (attached) |
| Dimensions | Main house, living quarters section: 18.5 m by 14.3 m, east projecting wing 7.8 m by 8.4 m; reception section: 10.7 m by 7.0 m; entirely thatched. Front gate: yakuimon, gabled roof, thatched |
| Owner | Joso City |
| Public Access | Open as the Mitsukaido Museum of Local History. April to October 9:00 to 18:00, November to March 9:00 to 17:00; closed Mondays and 29 December to 3 January. Adults 300 yen |
References
- National Database of Designated Cultural Properties: Sakano Family Residence, Main House
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/102/241
- National Database of Designated Cultural Properties: Sakano Family Residence, Front Gate
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/102/242
- Joso City: Mitsukaido Museum of Local History, Sakano Family Residence
- https://www.city.joso.lg.jp/kurashi_gyousei/kurashi/gakkou_kyouiku/isan/hdhhkbtkn.html
- Joso City Tourism and Products Association: Mitsukaido Museum of Local History
- https://www.joso-kankou.com/page/page000044.html
- Ibaraki Guide (Ibaraki Prefecture Tourism Association): Sakano Family Residence
- https://www.ibarakiguide.jp/spot.php?mode=detail&code=534
Last verified: 2026.08.06
Cultural Treasures in the Same Area
All are within walking distance in the same area, so we recommend visiting them together.
- Sakano Family Residence (Oseigocho, Mitsukaido City, Ibaraki Main house 0.00 km
- Sakano Family Residence (Oseigocho, Mitsukaido City, Ibaraki Front gate 0.02 km